Category: Arctic and Antarctic

Polar bears could become extinct faster than predicted. That is because there is a shortage of food in their habitat and scientists have now found out that polar bears need more energy than previously thought.

As a result of global warming, Arctic ice is melting quickly, so that polar bears have to travel further in search of food. In a study that has spanned the last three years, scientists found out that polar bears have to travel one and a half times more than in the past. As a result, they lose weight.

Experiments conducted with modern technology show how polar bears move and behave. High-tech GPScollars were put on 9 female polar bears. Their movements and energy consumption have been tracked over a period of 12 days. Results show that a few of them lost up to 10%of their weight.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, polar bears spend half of their time hunting for something to eat. They rely mostly on young seals as the main source of food, but the seal population is getting scarce because of the melting ice.

A polar bear needs about 12000 kilocalories a day to stay healthy and even more to put on the body fat it needs to survive the winter months.

Over the past ten years, the number of polar bears has declined by 40%. Ice on their habitat, Arctic Sea ice is decreasing at a rate of 14% per decade. It is currently at its lowest level in 40 years.

Polar bear feeding on a dead seal – Image: AWeith

Words

according to = as reported by …

behave = act in certain situations

body fat = here: the fat an animal needs to protect itself from the cold weather

collar = band of leather or plastic that is around an animal’s neck

conduct = carry out

currently = at the moment

decade = ten years

decline = to go down

decrease = become lower

energy consumption = the amount of energy you need and use up

extinct = to die out and not exist anymore

global warming = increase in the atmosphere’s temperature caused by more carbon dioxide and other gases

further = a longer distance

GPS = system that shows where your position is on earth through a system of radio signals

habitat = natural home of a plant or animal

lose weight = become thinner

melt = when ice turns into water

predict = to say that something will happen before it does

previously = at an earlier time

rely = here: eat

scarce = not very much left

scientist = person who is trained in science and works in a lab

seal = large sea animal that eats fish and lives near coasts

shortage = not enough

source = where something comes from

span = period of time between two events

study = piece of work that is done to find out more about a subect

survive = stay alive

track = monitor, watch closely

World Wildlife Fund = organisation that wants to protect the environment and save animals and plants

According to the American space agency NASA, the world’s ozone layer is slowly recovering. A report states that, for the first time, scientists have observed a decrease in the amount of chlorine in the ozone layer over Antarctica.

Ozone in the atmosphere is essential because it protects life on our planet by absorbing dangerous ultraviolet radiation, which causes skin cancer and damages plant life. Is the 1980s, scientists discovered a hole in the ozone layer, which has become larger ever since. It is especially large over the Antarctic continent and Australia.

Shortly after the discovery, an international agreement, the Montreal Protocol, was signed, banning the use of substances that are responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer. It limits the use of CFCs, chemical compounds that rise into the upper layers of the atmosphere where they are broken down by the sun’s ultraviolet light. In the process, chlorine is released which destroys the ozone molecules.

Since the ban has taken effect major companies have started looking for alternatives to CFCs.

Changes in the ozone level are usually measured during the Antarctic winter, between July and September, when temperatures are lower and results are more accurate. Since 2005, there has been a 20% rise in the amount of ozone. Even though it is the first time that the hole in the ozone layer has become smaller it will take decades to recovercompletely.

Environmentalists around the world have welcomed the announcement, stating that we can actually save the environment by acting decisively.

Largest ozone hole ever recorded over the Antarctic in 2006

Words

absorb = take something in

according to = as reported by …

accurate = exact

act decisively = to do something about a problem

agreement = promise by two or more countries to take action

announcement = official statement

atmosphere = mixture of gases that surrounds a planet

ban = forbid

break down = chemical change

cancer = serious disease in which cells in your body grow in an uncontrolled way

CFCs = chlorofluorocarbons = a gas used in refrigerators and spray cans; they are responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer

chlorine = greenish-yellow gas with a strong smell, that is also used to keep swimming pools clean; it is one of the gases that are responsible for the destruction of the ozone layer

completely = fully

compound = substance containing two or more atoms

decade = ten years

decrease = when something goes down

destruction = when something is damaged completely

discover = find for the first time

environmentalist = person who cares about nature and the world we live in

especially = above all

essential = very important and necessary

even though = true, but other things are true too

limit = control, check

measure = to find out how big something is

molecule = smallest unit made up of two or more atoms

observe = watch closely

protect = to keep something safe

recover = to return to a normal condition

release = set free

responsible = the reason for

scientist= person who is trained in science and works in a lab

sign = put your name on a document

state = say in public

substances = elements; material

take effect = start

ultraviolet radiation= light that comes from the sun but cannot be seen; it makes your skin darker

Thousands of penguin babies have starved to death in the eastern Antarctic recently . Observers found thousands of unhatched eggs and lifeless baby penguins on the coast. According to scientists , only two baby penguinssurvived during the 2017 breeding season. Adélie penguins live in colonies that consist of thousands of animals. It is the second time that a whole colony has been wiped out after no babies survived in 2015.

The World Wildlife Fund says that krill fishing in the area has led to the starving of penguin babies. Officials state that fishing in the area may permanentlyendanger the whole penguin population in the Antarctic.

Another reason for the declining number of Adélie penguins is possibly climate change. In regions where ice gets thicker, adult penguins must travel further away from the shore in order to find food. When they get back they find many of their babies already dead.

The WWF and other organisations now demand that the eastern Antarctic coastline be declared a Marine Protected Area in order to help endangered penguins. Commercial fishing should be banned around these areas .

Adélie penguins live along the Antarctic coast and usually breed from October to February. They lay eggs in nests made up of stones.

Adélie penguin – Image : Andrew Shiva

Words

according to = as said by …

adult = grownup

ban = forbid

breed = two or more animals get together in order to have babies

commercial fishing = fishing in order to make money

consist of = made up of

declare = to officially say that something exists

declining = going down

demand = want to have

endanger = to put a person or an animal in danger

krill = small shellfish

lifeless = dead

Marine Protected Area = area in the ocean where fishing and mining is banned and where animals and plants are protected

Scientists have discovered a gigantic hole that has reappeared in the Antarctic ice. It is about the size of the Netherlands and is located around the Weddell Sea.

In the 1970s climatologists found a similar hole at almost the same spot. At that time they didn’t have the observation equipment that they have now, so they couldn’t study the hole closely enough. After a few years it disappeared . Last year, the hole came up again.

Researchers cannot explain how the hole emerged. One theory is that warmer salt water from deep under the Antarctic ice sheet may have come up and mixed with cold water near the surface, thus , melting the ice sheet above. Normally a thick layer of ice covers Antarctica at the end of the southern winter. Scientists also claim that it may be connected to climate change and global warming.

Such a hole in the ice is called a polynya. Although not totally uncommon, it is strange that the hole in the Antarctic ice has appeared very far from its edge . Usually such holes are found in coastal regions.

Climatologists are not sure whether the hole will have an impact on the water temperature in the world’s oceans. If warmer water continues to surface to the top of the hole it may stay there for a longer period of time because it would then be difficult for ice layers to form.

Severe weather conditions during the Antarctic winter make it difficult to find holes in the ice . This is the second time in two years that such a hole has emerged , although last year’s was not that big.

Antarctic Ice Shelf

Words

although = while

claim = to say that something is true even if you cannot prove it

climatologist = person who studies the weather and how it changes the climate on earth

coastal = where land meets the sea

disappear = go away

discover = to find something that has not been there before

edge = the part of an object that is furthest from the centre

emerge = come out from somewhere

equipment = the tools or machines you need to do something

gigantic = huge; very big

global warming = the increase in the temperature of the atmosphere

ice sheet = area of thick ice that covers the North and South Poles

impact = influence, change

layer = material or substance between two other things

reappear = to come again, after it has gone away for some time

researcher = a person who studies a subject in order to find out more about it